Report: Tribe still plans casino in Wetumpka

Sunday, May 7, 2000 | 2:18 a.m.

Lee Warner, executive director of the Alabama Historical Commission, said he spoke with Eddie Tullis, tribal chairman of the Creek Nation East of the Mississippi Inc., earlier this spring about the tribe's plans for the 56-acre tract.

"He said it (construction) probably would not start this summer, but he said it is a plan that the tribe is going to go forward on," Warner told the Montgomery Advertiser in a story published Sunday.

Tullis indicated his tribe wants to use an agreement with gaming company Harrah's Entertainment Inc. to build a casino, a parking deck and a hotel along the Tallapoosa River, Warner said.

Tullis did not return calls from the newspaper seeking comment.

Two factors might weigh in his favor, though.

A jurisdictional fight between Florida, Georgia and the U.S. Department of the Interior could lead to a court ruling by the end of the year, said Jon Glogau, special counsel with the Florida Attorney General's Office in Tallahassee, where the case is being heard.

The Interior Department contends it has the authority to issue permits allowing Indian tribes to build casinos if the states won't give permission.

Also, a 20-year agreement with the Historical Commission against major construction on the land expires in July.

When the Interior Department published new gaming rules on April 12, 1999, Florida and Alabama immediately filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee seeking to halt their implementation.

"These rules are an attempt by the federal government and the Secretary of the Interior to circumvent the rights of states to decide whether Indian gaming will be allowed, and if so, how," Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor said.

Glogau said if the judge rules in favor of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, the Poarch Band of the Creek Indians in Atmore could legally open a casino in Wetumpka.

The Poarch Band signed a contract with Harrah's in 1997 to finance, build and manage a proposed 215,000-square-foot casino and entertainment complex in Wetumpka. The cost was estimated at between $85 million and $100 million.

Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson said he believes there has been "a preliminary agreement" with the Poarch Band, but didn't think the company would start construction at a site until any legal issues were resolved.

Glogau said two Indian groups in Florida, the Seminole Tribe and the Miccosukee Tribe, decided not to wait for approval. He said they are illegally operating a number of casinos on their land without gaming licenses, and U.S. attorneys in Florida have taken no action to close them. Glogau said he doesn't think federal authorities in Alabama would move to stop the Poarch Band if it opened a casino on its Wetumpka land.